Ultimate Answers to Proximate Questions: the Evolutionary Motivations Behind Tattoos and Body Piercings in Popular Culture
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Review of General Psychology © 2012 American Psychological Association 2012, Vol. 16, No. 2, 134–143 1089-2680/12/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0027908 Ultimate Answers to Proximate Questions: The Evolutionary Motivations Behind Tattoos and Body Piercings in Popular Culture Rachael A. Carmen, Amanda E. Guitar, and Haley M. Dillon State University of New York at New Paltz Numerous studies have found that piercing and tattooing the body is an increasingly prevalent trend in modern popular culture; however, this is not only a modern practice. Evidence of various forms of body ornamentation has been found in human societies dating back thousands of years. Although prior research has focused on the potential relationships between various personality traits and the likelihood of piercing or tattooing the body, few have approached this topic from an evolutionary perspective. For instance, the general motivations for getting tattoos and piercings have tended to fall into the same three categories for hundreds of years: (a) a symbol of an important past event, love, or friendship, (b) group membership, and/or (c) a marker of individuality. We argue that these motivations are simply proximate behaviors for an ultimate evolutionary reason: the perpetuation of one’s genes. In this article, we propose two new theories about the origins of body ornamentation. First, in our “human canvas” hypothesis, we propose a link between body ornamentation and the human species’ historical use of symbolic thought. Second, in our “upping the ante” hypothesis, we suggest that the steady rise in popularity of tattooing and piercing in Western culture has come about due to larger population densities and advancements in healthcare, which has led individuals to seek new and unique displays of fitness (i.e., body ornamentation). We then conclude with proximate examples in popular culture to display the proposed ultimate evolutionary reasoning behind body ornamentation. Keywords: tattoo, evolution, human canvas hypothesis, upping the ante hypothesis, popular culture, body ornamentation, body piercing The practice of tattooing and piercing the body is found in almost are simply proximate behaviors for an ultimate evolutionary reason: every subsection of Western popular culture (and arguably throughout the perpetuation of one’s genes. Most studies of modern motivations the world). In the entertainment industry, actors and actresses from for body ornamentation use proximate causation, which refers to the every genre of film from action adventure (e.g., Angelina Jolie, immediate cause of a behavior (Alessi, 1992) for example, a person Johnny Depp) to romantic comedy (e.g., Scarlet Johansen, Ben Af- gets a tattoo or piercing because he or she wants to be more unique. fleck), ignore the potential risk these permanent marks may have on Motivations for body ornamentation could in fact be understood using their ability to land future roles. Furthermore, musicians from every ultimate causation, which explains the origin of the behavior (Alessi, genre imaginable (e.g., Pink, Britney Spears, David Bowie, Nas, and 1992) for example, a person gets a tattoo or piercing to increase his or yes, even Justin Bieber) don tattoos and body piercings. In other her unique identity leading to a higher likelihood of reproductive realms of pop culture, athletes varying from “bad boys” (e.g., Mike success. Tyson), to “heartthrobs” (e.g., David Beckham), to something that can In this article, we present the general definitions behind various only be described as extreme (i.e., Dennis Rodman) have become types of body ornamentation. Then we discuss the evolutionary recognized for their body art. Once reserved for specific subgroups origins of the human species, in which we explain our “human within our culture (e.g., sailors, punks, bikers), body piercing and canvas” hypothesis in relation to a proposed link between body tattooing have seen an exponential increase in popularity in the last 30 ornamentation and the human species’ use of symbolic thought. or so years (Sweetman, 1999; van der Meer, Weijmar Schultz, & We subsequently address the rise in popularity of tattooing and Nijman, 2008), which we propose is due to an increased pressure to piercing within the last 300 years, leading finally to our second stand out within a group. Generally, the motivations for getting tattoos hypothesis—a term we refer to as upping the ante—in which we and piercings tend to fall into three categories: (a) a symbol of an propose that the combination of advancements in health care and important past event, love, or friendship, (b) group membership, larger populations has led individuals to seek new and unique and/or (c) a marker of individuality (Antoszewski, Sitek, Fijalkowska, displays of fitness (i.e., body ornamentation). We conclude with Kasielska, & Kruk-Jeromin, 2010). We argue that these motivations proximate examples from popular culture to display the proposed ultimate evolutionary reasoning behind body ornamentation. Rachael A. Carmen, Amanda E. Guitar, and Haley M. Dillon, Psychol- What Is Body Ornamentation? ogy Department, State University of New York at New Paltz. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rachael For our purpose, tattooing and piercing the body fall under the A. Carmen, The State University of New York at New Paltz, 1 Hawk umbrella term of body ornamentation. We have chosen to include Drive, Humanities 2A (EP Lab), New Paltz, NY 12561. E-mail: both of these acts under one term because both are forms of [email protected] (semi)permanent visual aesthetics (see Miller, 2001a, for a review 134 EVOLUTION AND BODY ORNAMENTATION IN POP CULTURE 135 of the concept) that involve some type of physical risk, as well as Fraser, 2000). The most well-known bird species to display elab- display some type of aesthetic quality. orate plumage are peacocks. In this species, a male’s tail is Originating from the Tahitian term ta tatau, meaning “appro- positively associated with aspects pertaining to health and herita- priate, balanced, and fitting” (Kaatz, Elsner, & Bauer, 2008, p. 35), ble fitness (Miller, 2001a). Another example of these ornaments, tattooing is defined as “the insertion into the skin of any coloring and the benefits often associated with them, can be seen in the materials designed to leave a semipermanent or permanent mark” Crested Auklets (Aethia cristatell), whose long crests are maxi- (Chalmers, 2009, p. 102). Body piercing is another form of skin mally preferred by females and grant a high dominance status modification in which a section of the skin (and, in some cases, (Jones et al., 2000). Although these examples demonstrate biolog- underlying tissue) is pierced to create a hole for jewelry to be ical ornamentation, humans take this a step further by creating inserted (Chalmers, 2009). external ornamentation, an act that can be considered a display of their extended phenotype. An extended phenotype is the idea What is Popular Culture? that a phenotype (i.e., the physical outcome of gene expression) is not simply limited to biological processes (e.g., a bird’s According to Dictionary.com, popular culture is defined as: plumage), but instead can be extended beyond genes, past the “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or confines of one’s own body, and into the environment itself aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people” (Popular (Dawkins, 1999). Nonhuman examples of extended phenotypes culture (n.d.), para. 1). This definition accurately encapsulates include beaver dams, bird’s nests, and the bowerbirds’ bower body ornamentation for several reasons. First, body ornamentation has become part of the mainstream media, as demonstrated by (Dawkins, 1999). Human examples include items such as several successful reality television shows (i.e., “commercial prod- clothes, cars, or houses, and we propose that tattooing and ucts”) that follow the happenings of tattoo studios (i.e., “cultural piercing the body should be considered an extended phenotype activities”) such as Miami Ink, LA Ink, NY Ink, and even a British as well. By ornamenting one’s own body either temporarily version—London Ink. These series have had enormous success (e.g., clothing), permanently (e.g., tattooing), or somewhere in over the last few years; for example, in August 2007, LA Ink was between (e.g., piercing), that individual is using an extension of the highest-rated series premiere in the history of the TLC network her or his genes (via behavior) to increase that person’s ability among the demographic of adults 18–34 years (Claustro, 2007). to stand out in a sea of possible mates. Second, the increase in popularity of tattoos and body piercings in In concordance with the extended phenotype, it seems that all recent decades (Sweetman, 1999; van der Meer et al., 2008) forms of body ornamentation are used to display genetic quality to demonstrates body ornamentation’s growing popularity among potential mates or rivals (Koziel, Kretschmer, & Pawlowski, “the general masses.” 2010). These signals of fitness are used when individuals compete in intrasexual selection—the competition between same-sex indi- Sexual Selection viduals for the attention of the opposite sex (Boyd & Silk, 2006; Rhodes, 2006). Intrasexual competition consists of same-sex rivals Several evolutionary themes emerge when looking at the history using various techniques such as “driving away, intimidating, and evolution of body ornamentation. Sexual selection is one derogating, or